Columbus, Georgia: Hear Us Talking

Columbus, Georgia: Hear Us Talking Supporting Lesson Plan

Introduce your students to the living history of Columbus, Georgia via local primary and secondary resources and the history of residents breaking societal barriers to impact the city, state's, and nation's history. This lesson features:

• Scaffolding that covers primary and secondary resources with meaningful examples 
• An assessment where students will reflect on the life of Primus King, a resident who fought for equal voting rights in primary elections
• An oral history enrichment activity that will allow your students to explore and preserve their local history through the use of the StoryCorps application 

• SS8H11: Evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.
  • a. Explain Georgia’s response to Brown v. Board of Education including the 1956 flag and the Sibley Commission.
  • b. Describe the role of individuals (Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis), groups (SNCC and SCLC) and events (Albany Movement and March on Washington) in the Civil Rights Movement.
  • c. Explain the resistance to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, emphasizing the role of Lester Maddox.
• L6-8RHSS1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
• L6-8RHSS2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
• L6-8RHSS4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
• L6-8RHSS6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts)

Resources:

• Columbus, Georgia: Black America Series by Judith Grant: This book features the history of African-American heritage in Columbus, Georgia, through images and stories. It covers a period before Columbus was founded to the present day, highlighting the lives of legendary figures along the way.

• Marker Monday: Primus King and the Civil Rights Movement: An article written by the Georgia Genealogical Society on the topic of Primus King and the court case surrounding his attempt to vote in the primary elections in Columbus, Georgia. 

• New Georgia Encyclopedia Entry for Primus King: Encyclopedic information on Primus King and the court case surrounding this attempt to vote in the primary elections in Columbus, Georgia. 

Lesson Objectives: 

• Students will identify common characteristics of both primary and secondary resources by analyzing two documents related to the Primus King court case.  

• Students will discuss the impact of the Primus King court case on Columbus, Georgia, the State of Georgia, and the United States.  

• Students will learn vocabulary related to United States elections and court hearings.  

Scaffolding and Lesson:

Go over primary and secondary resources by watching the following video:

Display the following resources and have students discuss what makes them primary or secondary resources: 

• Primary: Michelle Obama Portrait by Amy Sherald - The artist is a Columbus, Georgia native – Their biography is on the website linked 

• Secondary: Article from the Georgia Historical Society about Primus King's Historical Marker  

• Secondary: New Georgia Encyclopedia Entry for The Creek Indigenous Peoples

• Primary: An Oral History Script of Primus King held by Columbus University's Archive *

Activity:

Utilizing both PDFs of the article “Jackson Advocate; Jackson, Miss. Sat. April 6, 1946” (link), students should be broken up into groups of 3-4 and given the following questions to guide a discussion: 

1. Were there any unfamiliar words in the article?

   Words that may be unfamiliar:

   • Instrumentality: The quality of being instrumental; or a means to an end 

   • Appellate Court: To help describe appellate court USCourts.Gov

2. Is this a primary or secondary source? 

3. What is the primary purpose of this article?

4. What do you think the author thought was the most vital information to convey? Why?

5. What does this source tell us about the civil rights movement in the United States in 1944? 

6. Why are other states mentioned in this article? What is the importance of stating them? 

7. Skim the other articles in the newspaper. Is there anything relevant to this discussion located elsewhere in the paper? Share your findings with your group.

Extension and Assessment: 

Students will read and analyze the transcript from an An Oral History Script of Primus King held by Columbus University's Archive. *

Option 1: Utilize provided Primary Source Evaluation Worksheet found on this webpage: History House Primary Source Evaluation Guide

Option 2: Have students write a reflective journal entry about what they read  

Enrichment: 

Ask students to conduct an oral history with an adult who remembers the Civil Rights Movement from the 1960s. Students can use the https://storycorps.org/ app or website to record and seek guidance on conducting an oral history.  

*See SC_Connect_Toolkit_Teachers.pdf* 

Students should establish: 

1. 3-4 informational questions; name, age, date of birth, occupation, where they lived, etc.  

2. 3-4 questions about the interviewee’s personal life; what their parents did for a living, what they did for fun, what were important family events, and why 

3. Have questions specifically about the Civil Rights movement; Questions like "Where were you when you found out....how did you react?" Students can focus on events/topics in Columbus or Georgia.

4. Find out if the person was involved in the Civil Rights Movement and explain their involvement.

Explain that questions should not be answered with a yes or no; they should use open-ended questions. You may want to have students turn the questions in before conducting their interviews. 

Further oral history resources: 

• Library of Congress Analyzing Oral Histories PDF